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X ^..iotism, Its Peril and Redemption 

A Lecture 



Delivered by 

Jasper Tucker Darling, LL. D. 

To the Faculty and Students of 
Coe College 




Cedar Rapids, Iowa 
May 28. 1913 



PATRIOTISM: ITS PERIL AND REDEMPTION 

' ' When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last time, the 
sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dis- 
honored fragments of a once glorious Union, on states dissevered, 
discordant, belligerent, on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, 
it may be, in fraternal blood. 

"Let their last feeble and lingering glance, rather, behold the 
gorgeous ensign of the Republic, now known and honored through- 
out the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies stream- 
ing in their original luster, not a stripe erased or polluted, not a 
single star obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable in- 
terrogatory as — What is all this worth ? — nor those other words 
of delusion and folly — Liberty first, and union afterwards; but 
everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing 
on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, 
and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment 
dear to every true, American heart — Liberty and Union, now and 
forever, one and inseparable ! " 

These words of Daniel Webster, whose brain was the temple and 
whose heart was the home of loyalty and patriotic love, inspire my 
soul as I speak to you this day. 

Patriotism ! Inspired by the magic of its power, it becomes the 
master-spirit of man: The love of it annihilates all selfish pur- 
pose, lifts humanity to a higher level, and leads to nobler aims. 

The spirit of an exalted, American patriotism ever has been, is 
now, and ever will be, the vital breath of this Republic. 

In one of our standard authorities we are told that its meaning 
is * ' love and devotion to one 's Country — the spirit that, originat- 
ing in love of Country, prompts to obedience to its laws, to the 
support and defence of its existence, rights and institutions, and the 
promotion of its welfare." 

Another authority says: 

* ' Patriotism is the passion that aims to serve one 's Country. ' ' 

For the purpose of a clearer understanding of this subject let 

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US inquire: — What qualities of heart and soul must one possess 
in order to become a true and worthy patriot? One must be en- 
dowed with strong and steadfast convictions, and ever stand ready- 
to put those convictions into practical use. 

There are some, calling themselves patriots, who would consider 
it an insult were their claims to be doubted; and yet these same 
people, under the pretense of conservative wisdom, go out into 
the highways and listen to the voice of others, watching the weather- 
vane of public opinion, and then act in accordance therewith : Such 
may be justly called band-wagon patriots, preferring to be used 
as ballast for the benefit of others, rather than to remain steadfast 
upon well grounded opinions of their own. Such as these are 
never found on the vanguard, or out along the firing line in the 
performance of imperative duty. 

There can be no spirit of greater good in the affairs of govern- 
ment than the spirit of patriotism. 

Had the hearts of the people lacked that heritage when the life 
of this Union was assailed — had they faltered in their loyalty and 
love — there would be no flag of eight and forty stars — no beacons 
of Liberty enlightening the world. 

A true patriot will dare dangers, and die, if need be, rather than 
see his country go down, her integrity destroyed, and her flag trailed 
in dishonor. 

Poets and orators have charmed the world with their encomiums, 
lauding the virtues of this great gift : 

Philip Freneau thus wrote of Washington upon his arrival at 
Philadelphia : 

* ' 0, Washington ! thrice glorious name ! 
What due rewards can man decree — 
Empires are far below thy aim. 
And scepters have no charm for thee. 
Virtue, alone, has your regard, 
And she must be your great reward. ' ' 

Such exalted patriotism as Washington possessed will endure a^ 
long as the love of human liberty endures. 



In a single sentence Patrick Henry, then in the Continental Con- 
gress, expressed the spirit of noblest patriotism as he exclaimed ! 
*' I am no longer a Virginian ; but an American ! ' ' 

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Captain Nathan Hale, condemned to die, w^en led out before 
the leveled guns of the British, became a heroic example of patriotic 
loyalty as he exclaimed: — 

' ' I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my Country ! ' ' 
The name of Nathan Hale lives with the immortals. 



Among the noblest and most inspiring messages, bequeathed for 
the benefit of man, there are none expressing a loftier spirit of 
national patriotism than the words of Washington in his ' ' Farewell 
Address. ' ' 

In reflecting upon that wondrous appeal one would almost be 
justified in the belief that he, standing in the twilight of his long 
and laborious career, pausing the while as the shadows were gather- 
ing round about, could look far down the vista and there behold, 
with clear view, the years to come — that his eyes could penetrate, 
with prophetic power, into the darkness and there see the dangers 
lurking below. 

None, better than he, understood the dominant spirit of his 
people — those who felt they were the bom leaders of the Western 
World: 

None, better than he, knew the danger of an easily vibrating line 
between a land of slavery and of freedom. 

George Washington ! Patriot — Soldier — Statesman ! 

He took up the scales and poised them in serious contemplation. 

Upon the one side he placed the slave-master, imperious and re- 
solved to rule: 

Upon the other side he placed the Northman, staunch and stead- 
fast, his hands hardened and calloused with honorable toil. 

He looked long and earnestly: He saw the menace of a limited 
few holding slave-whips in their hands, arraying themselves against 
the great masses, equally intelligent and equally brave, but whose 
backs must bend to the plow and hoe. 

His heart grew heavy ; his soul was racked with pain. 

And could he see the wreck of all his labors? 

Could he hear the crash of tumult — the roar of cannon — the 
compact of armies whose tread should shake the earth ; even around 
his troubled tomb? 

And could he see the stars, beautiful as the heavenly stars, struck, 
one by one, their light extinguished, falling from the blue field of 
that flag whose folds had been first lifted by his own hands and 
held aloft in the sky? 

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0, the vision ! — the vision ! — as it unfolded its vast proportions 
before him ! 

Let us recall a few of his words — words and sentiments — so 
loyal and so true, that it seems strange they were so soon to be for- 
gotten by his countrymen : 

"A solicitude for your welfare which cannot end but with my 
life, and the apprehension of danger natural to that solicitude, urge 
me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn con- 
templation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some senti- 
ments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable 
observation, and which appear to me all important to the perma- 
nency of your felicity as a people. 

' ' These will be offered to you with the more freedom ; as you can 
only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, 
who can have no personal motive to bias his counsel. 

' ' Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your 
hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or con- 
firm the attachment. 

''The unity of government, which constitutes you one people, 
is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar in 
the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tran- 
quility at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your pros- 
perity, of the very liberty which you so highly prize. 

' ' But, as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from 
different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices em- 
ployed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as 
this is the point in your political fortress against which the bat- 
teries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and 
actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of 
infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense 
value of your national union to your collective and individual happi- 
ness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable at- 
tachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as 
of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watching 
for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing what- 
ever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be 
abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of ev- 
ery attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, 
or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various 
parts." 

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Continuing his great appeal he said : 

"In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a 
main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to 
endear to you the preservation of the other. 

"With such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all 
parts of our county, while experience shall not have demonstrated 
its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the 

PATRIOTISM OF THOSE WHO IN ANY QUARTER MAY ENDEAVOR TO 
WEAKEN ITS BANDS. 

"In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union it 
occurs, as a matter of serious concern, that any ground should have 
been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discrim- 
inations — Northern and Southern — Atlantic and Western — 
whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that 

THERE IS A REAL DIFFERENCE OF LOCAL INTERF,ST AND VIEWS. ' ' 

Drawing near to the close of his great lesson he spoke these words: 

"In VAIN WOULD THAT MAN CLAIM THE TRIBUTE OF PATRIOTISM 
WHO SHOULD LABOR TO SUBVERT THESE GREAT PILLARS OF HUMAN 
HAPPINESS — THESE FIRMEST PROPS OF THE DUTIES OF MEN AND CITI- 
ZENS. ' ' 

Such, my friends, are among the declarations of that immortal 
document known as "Washington's Farewell Address." 

Washington — "The Father of His Country" — the foremost 
patriot of the age in which he lived — the record of his deeds will 
endure to enlighten the ages as long as beacons of liberty burn to 
make bright the pathway of man. 

His authority upon the subject of patriotism will stand unas- 
sailed and unassailable as long as truth is cherished — as long as 
God guides the destiny of nations. 

As we consider the subject before us it is well that we take his 
words into our most serious contemplation. 

It is well that we look toward the light lifted high by his hands 
for our guidance and for the safety of this fast-growing Republic. 

At an early stage of his address he said : — 

"Here, perhaps, I ought to stop, but a solicitude for your welfare 
. . . and the apprehension of danger . . . urge me to go 
on." 

Why his "solicitude"? 

Wliy Ills "apprehension"? 

Why did he see "danger" and why did he speak of "designing 
men"? 

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He appreciated the frailties of this, then, infant republic: He 
well knew how easily it might be destroyed, and how eagerly in- 
sidious hands would engage in the undertaking. 

He recalled the cost and all the sacrifices for its establishment. 

Visions of the past rose up before him. 

Again he was gazing toward Bunker Hill and Lexington, Sara- 
toga and Valley Forge. 

Once more he saw Fort Griswold, and the farmers whose heroism 
hurled back Arnold and his alien hosts — Benedict Arnold, brave, 
brilliant, ambitious, but, to his Country and to her great cause, he 
was a traitor, his name anathematized before the world. 

Again he was at Monmouth turning the tide of battle — turning 
the tide after being betrayed by Lee — redeeming the day and sav- 
ing his loyal men from ignominious defeat. 

Once more, in memory, the glories of Yorktown greeted his view, 
and a great Republic lay unfolded before him. 

Here in this new world — here under a new flag — he beheld the 
bright light of Liberty — National Liberty — in her glorious con- 
summation. 

The past was secure: Toward the future he looked with an 
anxious heart. 

With what fervor he spoke. 

With what earnestness he appealed. 

His words were the words of wisdom. 

As the mariner, fresh from the storm-swept sea, consults chart 
and compass, takes his bearings, then looks ahead, so Washington, 
pondering upon the past, contemplated the years to come. 

Looking down the long vista, in vision he saw the uplifted sword ; 
he saw his beloved Republic trembling and bleeding beneath blows 
wielded by wicked hands, with hearts resolved to destroy. 

At what cost of pride he spoke : 

But, with him, principle stood above pride, and patriotism arose 
higher than all other considerations. 

He loved Virginia and the South ; but he loved the whole Union 
more. 

His patriotism was not narrowed down to a single state or cluster 
of states ; but, rather, it was as broad as all the domain beneath the 
stars and stripes. 

He looked toward the government which he had struggled to 
build up, and then he contemplated the deeds of those whom he 
believed would come to tear it down. 

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In all the calmness of his great soul, in all the clearness of his 
masterful mind, unbiased by prejudice, undisturbed by passion, with 
only solicitude in his heart, he said : 

"In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism 
who should labor to subvert these great pillaks op human 

happiness THESE FIRMEST PROPS OF THE DUTIES OP MEN AND CITI- 
ZENS. " 

Washington — ' ' The Father of His Country ! ' ' Let no man at- 
tempt to repudiate the wisdom of his deeds, or the virtue of his 
powerful declarations. 

The lessons that he taught will appeal to the loftiest patriotism of 
our race until this nation shall be no more. 

Had his admonitions been heeded there would have been no out- 
pouring of innocent blood. 

Had his pleadings been respected there would have been no bat- 
teries charged with the dice of death — no assaults upon these 
* ' great pillars of human happiness" — no swords of passion uplifted 
to plunge deep into the pulsing heart of this Republic — no sworn 
oaths to sweep the last hopes of a Constitutional Government away. 

Had the words of Washington been faithfully unfolded and hung 
above each hearthstone in the South, even as they wjere in tihe 
North, and had their generations read them ; then Rebellion 's voice 
would have been raised in vain ; swords would have fallen helpless, 
leaders would have stood alone ; for there would have been no legions 
to follow — no far-flung battle lines — no armed hosts hurled 
against the most humane government ever established for the bene- 
fit of man. 

In his great vision Washington foresaw all that came to pass — he 
saw it all written in the realism of outpouring blood. 

Time swept rapidly by. 

The immortal leader was at rest, while his last words endured as 
a living, breathing example throughout the great North, whose soil 
was unpolluted by the power of bondage and the curse of chains. 

Liberty loved to hearken back, and give heed. 

The ears of slavery were deaf to every sound. 

Those who toiled continued to lift their voices in glad acclaim, 
ever honoring, ever applauding, the name of Washington. 

Those who held slave-whips in their hands stood silently by ; their 
lips uttered not a sound in commendation of Liberty's immortal 
son. 

The forging of shackles went on, 

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Slavery flourished. 

It grew strong and bold. 

It became imperious. 

It ruled the press, the people, the pulpit; it closed the doors of 
their public schools. 

It demanded control of government ; it secured that control. 

Slavery ! Its influence put strange opinions into the minds of 
men — they who drank at the fountain steeped in the dregs of 
its sin. 

Its ever expanding power was slowly, but surely, coiling itself 
around human hearts, crushing out the life of National liberty and 
National patriotism. 

Slavery ! Republics had gone down before it. 

The hand of God had rested heavily upon its deeds and yet the 
slave powers heeded not: They challenged destiny: They defied 
Ood: They deliberately sealed their doom. 

Look back, if you will, along its dark and dismal pathway, and 
see the ruin wrought by its withering, blighting tread ! 

Even before the Caesars ' seven centuries of murky civilization 
had come and gone, leaving an impress of improvements then un- 
equaled by any age — even before all that — the glories of Egypt — 
her pyramids — her temples of pride and power — had crumbled in 
decay; for the hands of the Pharoahs' slaves had done the work, 
and it was decreed that slaveholders' deeds should be blotted out. 

Slavery! Its footprints have ever been the footprints of pollu- 
tion ; its grasp fatal to the progress of mankind. 

Washington, in his will, provided for the freedom of his slaves, 
and, to Thomas Jefferson, he expressed his earnest hope that some 
plan should be adopted whereby the institution might be abolished. 

Of that institution Jefferson said : "I tremble for my Country 
when I reflect that God is just; and that His justice cannot sleep 
forever. ' ' 

In his own calm judgment Jefferson knew that this Republic 
could not endure unless supported by principles approved of God 
and the higher enlightenment of man. 

He measured well the seductive strength of slavery : He under- 
stood how, in time, its power would blight conscience and benumb 
.the moral heart of his people 
: He also understood the loyal spirit of the North, 

Like Washington, he looked toward each power. 

He regarded them in serious contemplation. 

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And there arose before him a vision ; it was of embattling legions 
and blood. 

And over that vision he saw the shadow of a great hand ; it was 
the hand of God, 



Events hastened. 

Jefferson had been borne to his tomb. 

The earlier patriots had all passed away. 

A young and daring actor stepped upon the stage : It was Robert 
Y. Hayne of South Carolina, the hot-bed of all our Nation's woes. 
He saw an opportunity and he embraced it: He ignited a spark 
in the hearts of his people : It was the spark of Nullification. 

From that spark John C. Calhoun lighted a torch, and that torch 
leaped into flames which, thirty years later, consumed the South 
in the crucible of war. 



During the period of which it is now my pleasure to speak, there 
had come another and more imposing figure to take part in the 
forum of debate : It was Daniel Webster. 

He was a statesman of noble rank. 

He was the foremost orator of the age in which he lived. 

His appeals in the cause of ' ' Union and Liberty ' ' will endure as 
specimens of the loftiest and purest utterances ever devoted to the 
uplifting of the human race. 

His expressed opinions of the part to be taken by this Govern- 
ment in the affairs of the world were never overdrawn; while his 
unceasing efforts to save the Union advanced him to the foremost 
rank among the patriots of all time. 

On February twenty-second, eighteen hundred and thirty-two — 
the centenary day of Washington 's birth — he delivered an ad- 
dress at the capital city of our land, in commemoration of the life 
and character of that great genius who had rescued his people from 
a bondage of tyranny, and first led them into the light of a better 
day. 

Among those utterances by Webster were these : 

' ' The spirit of human liberty and of free government, nurtured 
and grown into strength and beauty in America, has stretched its 
course into the midst of nations. 

"Like an emanation from heaven, it has gone forth, and it will 
not return void. 

* ' It must change, it is fast changing, the face of the earth. ' ' 

He then referred to this young and struggling Republic as a 

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possible "experiment for the contemplation of theorists/' and he 
continued : 

' ' For the earth which we inhabit, and the whole circle of the sun, 
for all the unborn races of mankind, we seem to hold in our hands, 
for their weal or woe, the fate of this experiment. 

" If we fail, who shall venture the repetition ? 

' ' If our example shall prove to be one, not of encouragement, but 
of terror, not fit to be imitated, but fit only to be shunned, where 
else shall the world look for free examples ? 

"If this great Western Sun be struck out of the firmament, at 
what other fountain shall the lamp of Liberty hereafter be lighted ? 

"What other orb shall emit a ray to glimmer, even, on the dark- 
ness of the world? 

"There is no danger of our overrating or overstating the import- 
ant part we are now acting in human affairs. 

"It should not flatter our personal self-respect, but it should re- 
animate our patriotic virtues, and inspire us with a deeper and 
more solemn sense, both of our privileges and of our duties. 

"We cannot wish better for our country, nor for the world, than 
that the same spirit, which influenced Washington, may influence 
all who succeed him, and that the same blessings from above, which 
attended his efforts, may attend theirs." 

If these declarations by Mr. Webster, eighty years ago, were true 
(and who would dare venture a denial), how much more visible the 
evidence of their remarkable truth at this time, since all mankind 
must now see and know that the same divine Power, of which he 
so eloquently spoke, did watch and guard the destiny of this Repub- 
lic through her four dark years of desperate war, when determined 
enemies drew from her heroic veins her best and bravest blood. 

Daniel Webster possessed a clear, prophetic vision, and the power 
of picturing his views to others. 

Looking down the vista of onrushing years, he saw the clouds ly- 
ing low across the southern sky ; he saw them lift their dark form 
above the horizon ; he dreaded the storm. 

As he drew his sad vision to a close, he said : 

"If disastrous war should sweep our commerce from the ocean, 
another generation may renew it ; if it should exhaust our treasury, 
future industry may replenish it ; if it desolate and lay waste our 
fields, still, under a new cultivation, they will grow green again, 
and ripen to future harvests. 

"It were but a trifle, even, if the walls of yonder capitol were 

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to crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous decora- 
tions be all covered by the dust of the valley ; all these might be re- 
built. 

' ' But who shall reconstruct the fabric of demolished government ! 

"Who shall rear again the well-proportioned columns of consti- 
tutional liberty ! 

' ' Who shall frame together the skillful architecture which unites 
national sovereignty with state rights, individual security and pub- 
lic prosperity ! 

"No! If these columns fall, they will be raised not again. 

' ' Like the Coliseum and the Parthenon, they will be destined to a 
mournful immortality. 

"Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them than were ever shed 
over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art ; for they will be the 
remnant of a more glorious edifice than Greece or Rome ever knew — 
the edifice of Constitutional, American Liberty ! ' ' 

The vision of Webster's troubled dream came true, almost in the 
fullest measure. 

The "experiment," of which he so pathetically spoke, was put to 
the test along two thousand miles of battle-lines. 

War, desolating, devastating war, rolled and roared over the land, 
leaving a million graves to mark its terrible tread. 

The fabric of constitutional government, established by Washing- 
ton and the great patriots, was assailed and almost torn asunder, 
both upon the ocean and in the arena of mortal strife. 

Privateers built, equipped, and protected in English ports, swept 
all commerce from the seas. 

From the IMississippi to the remotest shores fair fields were laid 
waste under the withering breath and relentless tread of war. 

The national treasury was exhausted and the capital city, itself, 
almost gave way to flame and sword. 

But the walls of the great structure did not perish. 

"The well-proportioned columns of constitutional liberty" did 
not go down. 

* ' The skillful architecture, which unites national sovereignty with 
state rights, individual security and public prosperity," survived 
the tempests to benefit and bless both friend and foe — victor and 
vanquished — thus guaranteeing that this ' ' great Western Sun ' ' was 
not, and is not, to be struck out of the firmament so long as God 
rules over the affairs of man. 

The "experiment" launched into the world by Washington and 

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his compeers, became a living example, and brought forth the 
brightest star in the firmament of nations, through the patriotism 
of those who rallied at Lincoln 's call — they who stood as walls of 
living fire around the Stars and Stripes. 

But even while Mr. "Webster was speaking — while he was paying 
his masterful tribute to the name and fame of Washington — John 
C. Calhoun was, "covertly and insidiously," laying his plans to 
sweep all the blessings of Washington's deeds away. 

Calhoun ! His resolution was, that Slavery, and not Liberty, must 
control this land of the Western World. 

To the Government at Washington he served notice that he pro- 
posed to nullify the Constitution, and that South Carolina would 
secede. 

But his daring, audacious effort failed to reach its mark: He 
had not taken the measurement of the man in the White House — 
Andrew Jackson — a stauncher than whom never stood at the helm 
of this ''Ship of State." 

Jackson listened ; he heard the threats of nullification. 

He saw the "insidious hand," against which Washington had 
warned. 

He saw the "designing men" whom Washington said would come, 
and who would attempt to tear down the ' ' pillars of government. ' ' 

Himself a Southerner, he understood them. 

He knew with whom he had to deal. 

He entertained no fear. 

He was a patriot and he did not hesitate to put the power of 
patriotism into practical use. 

He addressed a "Proclamation" to his people. 

He defined the establishment of the Federal Union — the consti- 
tutional law binding all the states into one solid and indissoluble 
mass. 

He defined the government and his own duty, as Chief Magis- 
trate, to defend it. 

In drawing to a close he said : 

"Fellow Citizens of my native state, let me not only admonish 
you, as the First Magistrate of our Common Country, not to incur 
the penalty of its laws, but to use the influence that a father would 
over his children whom he saw rushing to certain ruin. 

"In that paternal language, with that paternal feeling, let me 
tell you, my countrymen, that you are deluded by men who are 
either deceived themselves, or wish to deceive you. 

16 



' ' Mark well under what pretenses you have been led to the brink 
of insurrection and treason on which you stand, 

"Eloquent appeals to your passions, to your state pride, to your 
native courage, to your sense of real injury, were used to prepare 
you for the period when the mask, which concealed the hideous fea- 
tures of disunion, should be taken off. It fell, and you were made 
to look with complacency on objects which, not long since, you would 
have regarded with horror. . . 

"They are not champions of liberty, emulating the fame of our 
Revolutionary fathers, nor are you an oppressed people, contending, 
as they repeat to you, against worse than colonial vassalage. You 
are free members of a flourishing and happy Union. 

' ' Look on this picture of happiness and honor and say : We, too, 
are citizens of America. 

' ' Carolina is one of these proud states ; her arms have defended, 
her best blood has cemented this happy Union. And then add, if you 
can, without horror and remorse : this happy Union we will dissolve, 
this picture of peace and prosperity we will deface, this free inter- 
course we will interrupt, these fertile fields we will deluge with 
blood, the protection of that glorious flag we renounce, the very 
name of America we discard. . 

' ' But the dictates of a high duty oblige me solemnly to announce 
that you cannot succeed. 

"The laws of the United States must be executed. 

"I have no discretionary power on the subject. My duty is em- 
phatically pronounced in the Constitution. 

' ' Those who told you that you might peaceably prevent their ex- 
ecution deceived you ; they could not have been deceived themselves. 

"They know that a forcible opposition could alone prevent the 
execution of the laws, and they know that such opposition must be 
repelled. 

"Their object is disunion. 

* ' Be not deceived by names. 

"Disunion by armed force is Treason, 

"Are you ready to incur its guilt? 

"If you are, on the heads of the instigators of the act be the 
dreadful consequences ; on their heads be the dishonor ; but on yours 
may fall the punishment. 

"On your unhappy state will inevitably fall all the evils of the 
conflict you force upon the Government of your Country. . . 

"I adjure you, ... as you love the cause of freedom, . . . 

17 



as you prize the peace of your Country, the lives of its best citizens, 
and your own fair name, to retrace your steps. 

"Snatch from the archives of your state the disorganizing edict 
of its convention ; bid its members to reassemble and promulgate the 
decided expressions of your will to remain in the path which alone 
can conduct you to safety, prosperity, and honor. 

''Tell them that, compared to disunion, all other evils are light; 
because that brings with it the accumulation of all. 

"Declare that you will never take the field unless the star- 
spangled banner of your Country shall float over you ; that you will 
not be stigmatized when dead, and dishonored and scorned while 
you live, as the authors of the first attack on the Constitution of your 
Country. 

' ' Its destroyers you can not be. 

' ' You may disturb its peace ; you may interrupt the course of its 
prosperity ; you may cloud its reputation for stability, but its tran- 
quility will be restored; its prosperity will return, and the stain 
upon its national character will be transferred and remain an eternal 
blot on the memory of those who caused the disorder. . . 

"May the Great Ruler of Nations grant that the signal blessings, 
with which He has favored ours, may not, by the madness of party 
or personal ambition, be disregarded and lost; and may His wise 
providence bring those who have produced the crisis to see the folly 
before they feel the misery of civil strife, and inspire a returning 
veneration for that Union which, if we may dare to penetrate His de- 
signs. He has chosen as the only means of attaining the high des- 
tinies to which we may reasonably aspire. ' ' 

History says: "President Jackson had fully intended to hang 
Calhoun and his nullifying coadjutors had they persisted in their 
treason. ' ' 

In a burst of supreme emotion he exclaimed: "Our Federal 
Union ; it must and shall be preserved ! ' ' 

To his friend — the Rev. A. J. Crofford — he wrote : ' ' Take care 
of your Nullifiers ; you have them among you ; let them meet with 
the indignant frowns of every man who loves his country. Their 
next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question. ' ' 

Jackson's prophecy proved true. 

Returning home from Congress, Mr. Calhoun advised his friends 
how best to proceed, and said: 

' ' The South can never be united against the North on the tariff 
question. . . We must shift to the slave question. " 

18 



Fearing the hangman 's noose he continued his work only through 
insidious methods, and yet by effective means, as time fully proved. 

When we pause and contemplate how near these wicked deeds 
came to a full and complete consummation, and how effectively at 
that time they could have destroyed the last hopes of Constitutional 
liberty, are we not justified in saying: A Power far above man's 
power was watching over and guiding the destiny of this Republic ? 

Had Calhoun succeeded in nullifying the Constitution, and had 
all the slave-holding states gone to his support, the Union, then in 
its infancy, would have perished, never to be restored. 

xVnd had there been a less determined, less heroic, and less pa- 
triotic man at the head of the Government, the Union would have 
gone down. 

Is it not true that he — President Jackson — saved the life of this, 
then, infant republic, that she might grow great and strong, and, 
thereby, be enabled to defend her own life when Slavery should send 
forth its final decree that she must die ? 

Andrew Jackson declared his belief to be that ' ' God had designed 
this Union as the only means by which mankind might attain the 
high destiny to which we may reasonably aspire." 

He looked toward God for support. 

He saw his duty ; and he feared not in performing it. 



In 1835, further disunion efforts were made by South Carolina 
to promote rebellion. 

Meetings were held within the state arousing a fear in the minds 
of the people that their cherished institution of slavery was in 
danger of destruction at the hands of the National Government. 

Extending their efforts to a broader field, meetings were held in 
Washington where all Southern Senators and Representatives were 
invited to attend. 

Ex-Governor Francis Thompson, of Maryland, then a Representa- 
tive in Congress, thus described one of these meetings : 

' ' I proceeded to the Committee Room to see what was being done. 

' ' Governor Pickens of South Carolina was speaking upon the fol- 
lowing Resolution : 

' ' ' Resolved : That no member of Congress, representing a South- 
ern constituency, shall again take his seat until a resolution is 
passed satisfactory to the South on the subject of Slavery.' 

' ' I listened to his language, and when he had finished, I obtained 
the floor. 

19 



"I determined at once to kill the treasonable plot hatched by 
John C. Calhoun — 'The Catiline op America' — by asking ques- 
tions, 

' ' I said to Mr, Pickens : ' What next do you propose we shall do ? 
Are we to tell the People that Republicanism is a failure? 

" ' If you are for that, I am not, 

*' 'I came here to sustain and uphold American institutions; to 
defend the rights of the North as well as the South ; to secure har- 
mony and good fellowship between all sections of our common 
country. ' 

"They dared not answer these questions, and the meeting ad- 
journed without date." 

But the seed sown by Calhoun had taken root ; it grew ; it ripened 
into a tumult of incomprehensible woe. 

From the travail and tears of the defenseless, from the wounds 
of agony and the blood of almost a million Americans, was measured 
the price freely given for the preservation of this Republic. 

In the light of later events, and with a clear knowledge of con- 
ditions created by the teachings of Calhoun, the name of Andrew 
Jackson should forever arouse the world's highest admiration. 

No Pantheon can ever be dedicated to the cause of American 
Liberty and be made complete, unless it contains therein a lofty 
pedestal upon which shall stand a statue of Andrew Jackson. 

And the noblest epitaph that could be inscribed upon such a 
pedestal would be : * ' Here stands a true and loyal exemplar of 
American patriotism. ' ' 

And what can we say of this man who was then called ' * America 's 
Catiline"? 

There is a well authenticated tradition that he, when exhausted 
with labor and anxiety by his efforts to dissolve the Union, in 
troubled sleep beheld ' ' The Father of His Country, ' ' who denounced 
him as a traitor for his wicked deeds, and that those memories pur- 
sued him even to the end of his days. 

He died before the seed of his unhappy sowing bore fruit. 

But what a pathway he had paved ! 

What desolation was in store ! 

Darkness was to cover the earth. 

The sweep of the tempest was to come. 

The breath of the storm was to blast each living thing before it. 



20 



The Good Book says: "And ye shall know the truth, and the 
truth shall make you free." 

No complete lesson in patriotism can be taught under the Stars 
and Stripes, unless we search recorded history from Bunker Hill 
down to the present time and, through the medium of that record, 
tell the plain, unpretentious truth. 

In all freedom and fairness I have laid before you the words of 
"Washington — the appeals of Webster — the sublime truths heroic- 
ally told by Andrew Jackson, and the lessons taught by the sworn 
enemies of this Republic — those who first conspired to destroy it ; 
that a slave empire might be established here in its stead. 



Calhoun died just eleven years before the first battle-fire of his 
own kindling was to leap into flames, finally to leave his loved land 
desolated by the merciless tread of relentless war. 

In 1855, when political parties were moving cautiously — when 
far-seeing men believed that a volcano was destined to break forth — 
when sensible minds became convinced that slavery was the precipi- 
tating cause — then Rufus Choate — statesman and patriot — ad- 
dressed a letter to the Whig Convention at Worcester, Massachusetts, 
in which he wrote : 

"We join ourselves to no political party that does not carry the 
flag and keep step to the music of the Union. ' ' 



In reply to those who first threatened to draw a dividing line 
across our Continent, Robert Charles Winthrop exclaimed : 

' ' There are no points of the Compass on the chart of true Amer- 
ican Patriotism." 



Benjamin Franklin, honored by all alike for his sincerity, said ; 
' ' Slavery is an atrocious debasement of human nature. ' ' 



William Ellery Channing, for a time a private school teacher in 
Richmond, Virginia, declared: 

' ' To extend and perpetuate slavery, we cut ourselves off from the 
communion of Nations; we sink below the civilization of our age; 
we invite the scorn, the indignation and abhorrence of the world. ' ' 



Patrick Henry said : 

"Slavery is as repugnant to humanity as it is inconsistent with 
the Bible and destructive to liberty." 

21 



Madison had thus characterized it : 
* ' Slavery is a dreadful calamity. ' ' 



Monroe appealed against it as follows: 

"Slavery has preyed upon the vitals of the Union and has been 
prejudicial to all the states in which it existed. ' ' 



Henry Clay declared: 

' ' Slavery is wrong — a grievous wrong — and no contingency can 
make it right. ' ' 



The renowned Scotch poet — Thomas Campbell — wrote these 
lines regarding its disgrace : 

"United States, your banner wears 
Two emblems — one of fame; 
Alas, the other that it bears 
Reminds us of your shame. 
Your standard 's constellation types 
White freedom by its stars; 
But what's the meaning of the stripes? 
They mean your negro's scars." 



Can any human being of intelligence, living in this enlightened 
age, find words to explain why passion sprang into battle-flames — 
why men sought to build up a slave empire from the ruins of the 
freest government ever established in the history of man? 



To be sure the issue is said to be a closed issue ; but it must not 
be lost to view so long as insidious hands strive to fan the embers 
into flames again. 

Not long since, a distinguished statesman said: "This Nation 
cannot live in the past, nor can it survive if it forgets the past. ' ' 

No competent lessons in patriotism can be taught unless we un- 
fold the truths of that turbulent age — unless we tell of H;he 
struggles that inspired a patriotism so lofty and so sublime that the 
example should appeal to the noblest emotions of your race, as 
long as the love of enlightment lives in the hearts of men. 

And should the time ever come when our people prefer to close 
their eyes and shut their ears to a reasonable exposition of what 
transpired to make this Nation what it is and what it stands for 

22 



before the world — should that time ever come — then an age of 
disintegration will begin. 

Already Henry Clay, loyal to the core, a lover of the Union, a 
defender of the constitution, a patriot of National renown, had 
closed his career, and passed on to his tomb. His last words, spoken 
in the Senate, and delivered almost at the immediate risk of his life, 
must ever remain as a living inspiration to guide the course of this 
great Republic through the dangers yet liable to assail. 

Among his great declarations were these: 

' ' The Constitution of the United States was made, not merely for 
the generations that then existed, but for posterity — unlimited, in- 
definite, endless, perpetual, posterity. 

* ' And every state that then came into the Union, and every state 
that has since come into the Union, came into it binding itself by in- 
dissoluble bonds, to remain within the Union itself, and to remain 
within it by its posterity forever. ' ' 

He then pictured to his people the horrors of war and said : 

**We may search the pages of history, and none so ferocious, so 
bloody, so implacable, so exterminating — not even the wars of 
Greece, including the Commoners of England and the Revolution of 
France — none, none of them all would rage with such violence, or 
be characterized with such bloodshed and enormities, as would the 
war which must succeed, if that event happens — the dissolution of 
the Union. ' ' 

He then explained that, "should such a war be inaugurated, ex- 
haustion would come, extermination would follow, until some Philip 
or Alexander, some Caesar or Napoleon, would rise and cut the 
Gordian knot, solve the problem of the capacity of man for self- 
government, and crush the liberties of both the severed portions of 
this common empire. . . Can you doubt it?" he exclaimed. 

He continued in these words: 

' ' The final result would be the extinction of this last and glorious 
light which is leading all mankind, who are gazing upon it, in the 
hope and anxious expectation that the liberty that prevails here, 
will, sooner or later, be diffused throughout the whole of the 
civilized world." 

Drawing to a close he appealed to his countrymen with all his 
aged strength — his last expiring power : 

"Sirs, can you lightly contemplate these consequences? 

"Can you yield yourselves to the tyranny of passion, amidi 
dangers which I have depicted in colors far too tame ? 

23 



"I implore you, gentlemen — by all your veneration for your 
ancestors — by all your regard for posterity — by all your gratitude 
for Him who has bestowed on you such unnumbered and countless 
blessings — to pause — solemnly to pause — at the edge of the 
precipice, before the fearful and dangerous leap is taken into the 
yawning abyss below, from which none, who has ever taken it, shall 
return in safety. 

' ' Finally, Mr. President, and in conclusion, I implore, as the best 
blessing which Heaven can bestow upon me here on earth, that, if 
the dreadful event of the dissolution of the Union is to happen, I 
shall not survive to behold the sad and heart-rending spectacle. ' ' 

The prayer of each — that of Webster and of Clay — was an- 
swered ; for their eyes were closed in death before ' ' The Tyranny of 
Passi(m:" drew its sword to strike the deadly blow. 

This appeal, by Mr. Clay, merely postponed the crisis — merely 
postponed the ' ' heart-rending spectacle ' ' of which he so graphically 
and pathetically spoke. 

In 1856 a new political party was formed — the Republican 
party — with John C. Fremont as its nominee: He was defeated, 
and James Buchanan became the successor, March 4 1857, of 
Franklin Pierce. 

His advent into the Presidential chair was to mark the last ex- 
piring hope of a Constitutional Government, until war should 
come — until carnage should flow — until the smoke of conflict, 
along two thousand miles of battle-lines, should darken the earth. 

Mr. Buchanan was loyal to the Union; and yet he lacked the 
courage and force of moral character necessary to uphold it when 
its enemies came forth to tear it down. 

He raised his hand swearing that he would preserve, protect, and 
defend the Union ; and yet, when the critical hour came, he failed. 

Even during his "First Inaugural Address" he betrayed his 
perfect submission to the Slave Power rule. 

For a long time an important case had been pending before the 
United States Supreme Court: At once it became known as the 
"Dred Scott Case." 

Some authorities assert that a decision of the case had been with- 
held, awaiting the advent of Mr. Buchanan into the Presidential 
chair; and it is also claimed to be a self-evident fact that he had 
been made fully aware of the Court's decision in advance, that he 
concurred in that decision, and that it was a part of the general 
plan that he, in his "Inaugural," should prepare the public mind 

24 



for the shock which the Court knew the decision would cause, and 
which, as they realized, was liable to result in serious consequences. 

Referring to the Slave question, Mr. Buchanan said: "This is, 
happily, a matter of but little practical importance. Besides, it is 
a judicial question, and legitimately belongs to the Supreme Court, 
before whom it is now pending, and will, it is understood, be 
speedily and finally settled. 

"To their decision, in common with all good citizens, I shall 
cheerfully submit, whatever that decision may be. ' ' 

The moment those who disbelieved in the spread of slavery, read 
the President's address, their minds were filled with grave doubts, 
and they waited for the verdict of the Supreme Court with anxious 
expectations. 

When the decision was announced two days later, a feeling, akin 
to a panic, spread over the land; for it legalized slavery in every 
part of the national domain. 

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney presented the conclusions of the 
Court which had been concurred in by a majority. 

The Chief Justice, in his extra-judicial declarations, went further, 
saying that "The Missouri Compromise and all other acts restrain- 
ing slavery, were unconstitutional, and that neither Congress, nor 
local legislatures had any authority for restraining the spread, over 
the whole Union, of the institution of slavery. ' ' 

Young though I was at the time — being under nine years of 
age — yet I remembered well the appearance of consternation that 
seemed to possess all alike. 

' ' Verily, ' ' said some, ' ' the Slave Power has reached and polluted 
the fountain of Federal justice : It dominates our President : It 
has throttled the Government: It has nullified the constitution 
itself." 

They declared their belief that Buchanan was in perfect accord 
with the Court, that Slavery had secured complete control, and that, 
unless some unseen power should eventually come to the rescue, 
this Republic would perish and a Slave Oligarchy rise in its place. 

Some of the more hopeful exclaimed: "Our armories are filled 
with weapons — we hold the ammunition — we possess the ships — 
what can the Southerners do? They are not a manufacturing 
people. They lack the power to put the Supreme Court's decision 
into practical effect!" 

But how little did these unsuspecting men realize that, during 
the Buchanan regime, every armory in the North would be emptied 

25 



of weapons, ships sailed to Southern ports, and all made ready for 
a long and determined war — a war for the enforcement of the 
most vicious and destructive court decision since the days of un- 
happy Rome. 

During the four years of the Buchanan subserviency to the Slave 
Power, events followed events in quick succession — all preparing 
for the day when Rebellion should be ready to strike a blow. 

At each step they made more exacting demands. 

The Dred Scott decision had aroused the slave rulers to a state 
of intemperate exultation. 

Robert Toombs, of Georgia, in a burst of passionate glee, ex- 
claimed : "I shall yet count my slaves on Bunker Hill. ' ' 

It seems almost beyond the power of the mind, at this enlightened 
age, to comprehend the boldness, yea, the madness, of such a declara- 
tion. 

I will assemble my slaves — my field hands — men with muscles 
of iron — men as black as midnight — my housemaids and my wo- 
men of lighter hue — women into whose souls God has sent a ray 
of sunlight — they who hold their babes to their breasts — babes 
with skin as fair and white as evei: endowed Caucasian beauty: I 
will assemble them — my slaves — at the base of that historic 
monument, and there I will call the roll. 

I will cut a pathway through Freedom, and there, upon the very 
spot where was poured out the first blood in the cause of Liberty — 
there I will call the roll of my slaves, and then that monument, like 
the Parthenon and the Coliseum, shall crumble and fall. 

Foreign to his heart, stranger to his soul, were the sentiments, 
which in a later day, were to find voice from the inspired pen of 
him who wrote : 

* * The tumult and the shouting dies — 
The Captains and the Kings depart — 
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice. 
An humble, and a contrite heart. 
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet 
Lest we forget — lest we forget ! 

* ' If, drunk with sight of power, we loose 
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe — 
Such boasting as the Gentiles use. 
Or lesser breeds without the Law — 
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet ! 
Lest we forget — lest we forget ! " 
26 



Sometimes even sensible men forget that there is a God watching 
over and guiding the destiny of man and of Nations. 

Someone has said that "conscience is the voice of God in man's 
soul." Accepting that as truth, the conclusion is — where the 
purity of conscience is gone, God is gone; He abideth not in that 
man's soul. 



When two years of Buchanan 's administration had gone by, he be- 
came suddenly awakened to the immediate danger overhanging the 
Union which he had taken a solemn oath to defend. 

He saw its enemies assembling; he had them within his own 
Cabinet; he heard them plotting; he knew they were preparing; 
and yet he dared not say a word ; he recorded no protest : He de- 
faulted in his sworn duty as President of the United States. 

December fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty, was at hand. 

The President attempted to compose himself for the preparation 
of a message to the Congress then in session. 

In that remarkable and contradictory document, while denying 
the right of any state to withdraw from the Union he said : 

' ' Congress possesses many means of preserving the Union by con- 
ciliation ; but the sword was not placed in their hands to preserve it 
by force." 

President Buchanan was weak ; he was a vascillating old man. 

One history says : "He was well-meaning, a Union man at heart, 
but his enfeebled intellect was unable to see, and hold firm to, the 
true course : He lacked clearness of perception, decision of charac- 
ter and nerve." 

History further says: "He knew secession was wrong, but al- 
lowed himself to be persuaded that he had no Constitutional power 
to prevent it." 

It is reasonable to say that he was a most admirable subject in the 
hands of those who were perfecting their last plans to tear into 
shreds the fabric of National Government, leaving it so disabled that 
they could crush it and cast it away at will. 

The closing months of his administration witnessed scenes more 
demoralizing and more destructive than any witnessed in all the 
civilized world since the fall of the Roman Empire. 

Mr. Buchanan saw his army — the army of which he was Com- 
mander-in-Chief — sent to stations far remote — so far that the 
capital city was left subject to invasion by an enemy then plotting 
its fall — plotting just as Catiline plotted the fall of Rome. 

27 



He saw his ships — the Nation 's shield of defence — a hundred 
or more — he saw them as they were being sailed into Southern 
ports, prepared for surrender at the word of command. 

He saw the Nation's armories stripped of all muskets, ammuni- 
tion, light and heavy artillery — all implements and munitions of 
war — transferred to the South and there ordered by his own cab- 
inet official — Floyd (backed by Jefferson Davis) — to be sold to 
military companies then drilling and preparing for the field. 

Appeals were made, asking him — the President — to put a stop 
to the depredations — asking him to preserve the Nation's power of 
defense. To all such appeals, he answered: "I have no power." 

Before the Christmas bells rang South Carolina had seceded; 
and yet he replied : "I am helpless. The Constitution gives me 
no right of Executive control. ' ' 

Wicked as was the act; woeful as was the deed, the hour was 
drawing near when the sworn enemies of the Nation were to deny 
its integrity, and challenge the North on fields where steel must 
meet steel in battle-shock, testing the virtue of their brothers' 
blood. 

But let us pause for a moment ; let us look toward the one man 
in all the South who had the courage to stand up — he who attempt- 
ed to stem the tide — he whose eyes beheld the horrors — whose 
face felt the burning breath — whose vision penetrated far into the 
furies of the storm. 

He was small of statue ; and yet he rose up, as a patriot inspired 
before them. 

Impatiently they listened as he spoke: 

' ' Fellow countrymen of my own Commonwealth : 

' ' This step, once taken, can never be recalled ; and all the baleful 
and withering consequences that follow, will rest on this convention 
for all coming time. 

"We and our posterity shall see our lovely South desolated by 
the demon of war, which this act of yours will inevitably invite, and 
call forth; when your green fields of waving harvests shall be 
trodden down by the murderous soldiery and the fiery car of war 
sweeping over our land; our temples of justice laid in ashes; all 
the horrors and desolation of war upon us : Who, but this Conven- 
tion, will be held responsible for it ? 

"Who but him, who shall have given his vote for this unwise and 
ill-timed measure, shall be held to strict account for this suicidal 
act by the present generation, and, probably, cursed and execrated 

28 



by posterity for all coining time, for the wide, desolating ruin that 
will inevitably follow this act you now propose to perpetrate. 

"Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reasons 
you can give that will ever satisfy yourselves in calmer moments. 

' ' What reasons can you give your fellow-sufferers in the calamity 
that it will bring upon us? 

"What reason can you give the Nations of the earth to justify it? 

^^They will be the calm and deliberate judges in the case, and to 
what cause or one overt act can you point on which to rest the 
plea of justification? 

"What right has the North assailed? 

"What interest of the South has been invaded? 

"What justice has been denied? 

"What claim, founded on justice and right, has been withheld? 

' ' Can either of you today name one governmental act of wrong de- 
liberately and purposely done by the Government at Washington, 
of which the South has a right to complain ? 

' ' I challenge the answer ! ' ' 

As he drew his immortal speech to a close he spoke with even 
greater pathos and power: 

"Leaving out of view, for the present, the countless millions of 
dollars you must expend in a war with the North, there will be 
thousands and tens of thousands of your sons and brothers slain 
in battle, and offered up as sacrifices upon the altar of ambition — 
AND FOR WHAT, WO ask again ? 

" It is for the overthrow of the American Government, established 
by our common ancestry, cemented and built up by their sweat and 
blood, and founded on the broad principles of right, justice, and 

HUMANITY ! 

"And, as such, I must declare here, as I have often done before, 
and which has been repeated by the greatest and wisest of statesmen 
and patriots of this and other lands, that it is the best and freest 

GOVERNMENT — the MOST EQUAL IN ITS RIGHTS — THE MOST JUST IN 
ITS DECISIONS THE MOST LENIENT IN ITS MEASURES, AND THE MOST 

INSPIRING IN ITS PRINCIPLES to elcvatc the race of men, that the sun 
in heaven ever shone upon. 

' ' Now, for you to attempt to overthrow such a Government as this 
under which we have lived for more than three-quarters of a 
century, in which we have gained our wealth, our standing as a 
Nation, our domestic safety, while the elements of peril are around 
us, with peace and tranquility, accompanied with unbounded pros- 

29 



perity, and rights unassailed — is the height of madness, folly and 
wickedness, to which I can neither lend my sanction nor my 
vote. ' ' 

Such were the words of Alexander Hamilton Stephens of Georgia 
just previous to the hour when he was to be forced into the arena 
where embattling blades were to make the blood of martyrs flow 
like falling rain. 

No power of speech can picture the emotions tearing at the heart- 
strings of that lone patriot as he appealed to his deluded country- 
men. 

Tradition tells us that his voice, at times, grew tremulous, and 
then gave way — that tears coursed his cheeks as he portrayed the 
deaths and desolations beneath the fiery car of war. 

His appeals were vain. 

His declarations fell upon deaf ears. 

Their souls were benumbed to every sound. 

Their hearts were afire, craving, with passion mad and furious, 
for war. 

The deadening power of slavery had done its work — it had 
trampled out the life of patriotic virtue and patriotic love. 

Conscience had been crushed down beneath its blighting tread. 

O, that the South had listened to the words of her wisest — her 
noblest sons — before she lighted the fires sending forth her death- 
dealing engines of war ! 

0, that she could have looked out and over the tragic scenes 
stretching far across the bosom of her own fair fields where a mil- 
lion of America 's bravest and best were to go down, their pale faces 
turned heavenward, and upon their brows the death-dews of eternal 
night. 

The closing days of the Buchanan Administration were at hand. 

The plundering of the National Treasury was complete, her 
armories empty, her troops unavailable, while the South stood ready 
and defiant for war. 

It was January seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-one. 

Robert Toombs, during an impassioned speech in the Senate, said : 

' * The Union, Sir, is dissolved. 

''South Carolina has gone out. 

"The great majority of those sister states consider her cause as 
their cause. 

''The South is prepared for the arbitrament of the sword. You 

30 



may see the glitter of bayonets, and hear the tramp of armed men 
from your capital to the Rio Grande. ' ' 

In a burst of madness, Senator Iverson of Georgia exclaimed: 
* * We will welcome you with bloody hands to hospitable graves. ' ' 

Every newspaper announced it; every slave-master asserted it, 
and a war-craving people declared it — that they were ready to open 
the carnival and reap a harvest of human blood. 

Hon. George Fitzhugh, of Virginia, published an "open letter" 
in which he said : 

"It is a gross mistake to suppose that 'Abolition' is the cause of 
dissolution between the North and South. The Cavaliers, Jacobites, 
and Huguenots of the South, naturally hate, contemn, and despise 
the Puritans who settled the North. The former are 'Master- 
Races;' the latter are a 'Slave-Race' — descendants of the Saxon- 
serfs. ' ' 

United States Senator Hammond, of South Carolina, in a public 
address, declared: "These Northern 'Mud-Sills' must be made to 
know that the 'Southern Cavaliers' are their masters." 

The malignant words thus quoted were the messages of but two 
of the many thousands of like teachers who, for forty years, had 
been molding the minds of the masses into a belief that there was 
no virtue in Northern blood — that there was no valor inspiring the 
Northman's soul, and that all such should be looked down upon 
witli contempt and disdain. 

And so it was, that contempt and disdain grew into hatred, and 
hatred grew into passion, and passion kindled the flames of a fratri- 
cidal war. 

The South looked upon labor as degrading. 

The North regarded it as ennobling. 

The so-called Cavaliers looked down upon the bending backs of 
their slaves : They looked down upon the Northman just the same, 
notwithstanding he volunteered to bend his own back. 

The men who loved slavery resorted to all kinds and characters 
of deceptions in their efforts to arouse their people to war: They 
were the schoolmasters of the South. 

The school is a dangerous institution unless it teaches the truth. 

Truth leads to triumph. 

Falsehood leads to failure. 

And so it was decreed that falsehood should lead the South to her 
downfall — thence to her Brook Kedron, and thence to her Geth- 

31 



semane. History calls it Appomattox: It required an Appomat- 
tox to prove tlie truth. 

It required a Shiloti, an Antietam, a Fredericksburg, a Vicks- 
burg, a Gettysburg, a Wilderness, a Cold Harbor — it required all 
these and a thousand more blood-bathed fields to prove to the South 
her costly mistake — to prove to her and to all the world that no 
greater generalship or military genius ever existed, and no nobler 
blood was ever poured out, than the blood given that this Republic 
might live and the flag of universal liberty remain in the sky. 



And who, let us inquire, was most anxious to overthrow this Gov- 
ernment which, in the language of Mr. Stephens was ' ' the best and 
freest that the sun in heaven ever shone upon ' ' ? 

On February 9th with seven states out of the Union, a Convention, 
held in Montgomery, Alabama, elected Jefferson Davis, Provisional 
President of the Southern Confederacy. 

Journeying to that city, he spoke at many places : At Stevenson, 
Alabama, he said : 

"Your border states will gladly come into the Southern Con- 
federacy within sixty days ; as we will be their only friends. 

"England will recognize us and a glorious future is before us. 

"The grass will grow in Northern cities where the pavements 
have been worn off by the tread of commerce. 

"We win carry war where it is easy to advance — where food for 
the sword and torch await our armies in densely populated cities. 

"And though they may come and spoil our crops, we can raise 
them as before ; while they cannot rear their cities which took years 
of industry and millions of money to build." 



Had he forgotten, or did he propose to rebuke the words of 
Washington : 

"In vain would that man claim the tribute op patriotism, 

WHO SHOULD LABOR TO SUBVERT THESE GREAT PILLARS OP HUMAN HAP- 
PINESS THESE FIRMEST PROPS OF THE DUTIES OF MEN AND CITIZENS. ' ' 



Had he forgotten, or did he propose to challenge the truths told 
by Jackson? 

' ' The laws of the United States must be executed ! 

"Those, who told you that you might peaceably prevent 

their execution, deceived you ; THEY COULD NOT BE DECEIVED THEM- 
SELVES. 



' ' Their object is disunion. 

' ' Be not deceived by names. 

' ' Disunion by armed force is treason. 

* ' Are you ready to incur its guilt ? ' ' 



Had he forgotten, or did he propose to ignore the warnings of 
Henry Clay: 

"We may search the pages of history, and none so furious, 
so bloody, so implacable, so exterminating — not even the wars 
OF Greece, including the commoners of England — none — 

none of them all — VS'OULD RAGE WITH SUCH VIOLENCE, OR BE 
CHARACTERIZED WITH SUCH BLOODSHED AND ENORMITIES, AS WOULD 
THE WAR WHICH MUST SUCCEED, IF THAT EVENT HAPPENS — THE DIS- 
SOLUTION OF THIS Union. ' ' 



Had he forgotten, or did he scorn the words of Stephens, who 
pleaded for peace: 

"Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reason 

YOU CAN GIVE THAT WILL EVER SATISFY YOURSELVES IN CALMER MO- 
MENTS. 

' ' What right has the North assailed ? 
' ' What interest of the South has been invaded ? 
"What justice has been denhed? 

"What claim, founded in justice and right, has been with- 
held? 

' * I challenge the answer ! ' ' 



Washington was rebuked, Jackson challenged. Clay ignored, 
Stephens scorned — the patriotism of them all was repudiated by 
Jefferson Davis, and for what? 

He had resolved to become the Star-Actor on a stage of tragedies 
where blood must be poured out each day and hour. 

He had resolved to "cut the Gordian knot," call upon England 
to establish her protectorate, declaring this people's government a 
failure before the world. 

Were his deeds and designs the deeds and designs of a patriot? 

You, my friends, who are familiar with the history telling of the 
dark days of Rome, will recall that scene which had its counterpart 
here in eighteen sixty-one — that scene where Cicero addressed 
himself to Catiline before the "Senators hastily assembled." 

You will recall how he — Cicero — grave, dignified, eloquent, with 

33 



the Roman purple flowing over his shoulders, arose to his feet and, 
surrounded by all the illustrations of Roman glory, spoke at length 
and closed his oration in these immortal words : 

' ' Begone, Catiline, begone to your impious and nefarious war, — • 
to your own misfortune and injury, to the destruction of those who 
have joined themselves to you." 

Were the designs of Davis less profane, less impious than those 
of Catiline? 

Davis said: "We will carry war where it is easy to advance, 
where food for the sword and torch await our armies in densely 
populated cities." Reflect, if you will, on the meaning of those 
words : 

Food for the sword meant human flesh and blood — food for the 
torch, homes burning, hearthstones laid waste. Who was most eager 
for the feast of fire and blood — Davis or Catiline ? 

Catiline failed — ignominiously failed. 

Davis failed: Why? 

As "God called from the clouds unto Moses," so He called one 
whom He had prepared to lead — one whose heart was clothed in 
raiments of righteousness — one whose soul was inspired by loyalty 
and patriotic love. 

Bom as lowly as the Nazarene, reared in penury, even as poor 
as the poorest of all time, this man — Abraham Lincoln — came as 
a messenger to point the way — as a leader to redeem this ' ' Ark of 
God's Covenant" for the good of all Nations and all peoples of the 
earth. 

Foreseeing a conflict he said : ' ' The real issue in this Country is 
the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and 
wrong — throughout the world. They are the two principles that 
have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and they will 
ever continue to struggle." 

And then he exclaimed : "If slavery is not wrong, then nothing 
is wrong. ' ' 

Among his immortal declarations are these : 

"Under the operation of the policy of compromise the slavery 
agitation has not only not ceased, but it has continuously augmented. 

"In my opinion it will not cease until a crisis shall have 

BEEN REACHED AND PASSED. 

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. 
* ' I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave 
and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not 



expect the house will fall ; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. 
It will become all one thing or all the other — either the opponents 
of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where 
the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ulti- 
mate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall 
become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, North as 
well as South. ' ' 

And this man — a child of the forest — a farm laborer, untutored, 
uneducated, as education goes ; and yet of profound knowledge self- 
acquired — this man endowed with a soul of wisdom and into whose 
brain God had breathed the spirit of true and lofty patriotism — 
this man was called to preside as Chief Magistrate over a Nation 
then trembling and almost tottering to its fall. 

To his people he had taught this doctrine : 

* ' Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let 
us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. ' ' 

Bidding his home-friends farewell, he said: 

"I go to assume a task more difficult than that which has de- 
volved upon any other man since the days of Washington. 

"He never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine 
Providence, upon which he at all times relied. 

"1 feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine blessing 
which sustained him ; and on this same Almighty Being I place my 
reliance for support. And I hope you, my friends, will all pray 
that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot 
succeed, but with which success is certain. Again I bid you an 
affectionate farewell. ' ' 

He reached the capitol : He rose to speak : He heard the rumble 
of the gathering storm : He felt the burning breath of war : He 
saw enemies assembling on every side. 

Hoping to calm the angry storm he gave utterance to these im- 
mortal words: 

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in 
mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. 

"The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict 
without being, yourselves, the aggressors. You have no oath regis- 
tered in heaven to destroy the Government ; while I shall have the 
most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it. 

"I am loathe to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We 
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must 
not break our bonds of affection. 

35 



' ' The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field 
and patriot's grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over 
this broad land, will yet swell the choruses of Union when again 
touched, as they surely will be, by the better angels of our 
nature. ' ' 

With these tender and loving sentiments this man of lowly birth 
stood before the American people — President of the United States. 

Sincere though he was, and anxious to reach out his hand in true 
conciliation, the leaders of the South rejected his overtures, scorned 
his offers, and cried : ' ' War ! ' ' 

A month went by when the more sober-minded saw the mistake 
of secession. 

Reaction set in, and open talk of returning to the Union reached 
the ears of Jefferson Davis. 

The so-called Confederacy was in danger of death even before it 
could leap from its cradle, advance to the arena, and begin the 
spilling of blood. 

It faced a crisis: Its leaders declared that something desperate 
must be done or their efforts would fail. 

April tenth, Roger A. Pryor, of Virginia, reached Charleston and 
addressed a tumultous throng. 

Among other war-kindling words were these : 

"Thank God this accursed Union is at last blasted, and riven 
by the lightning wrath of an outraged and indignant people. 

' ' Not only is it gone, but it is gone forever. 

' ' Like Lucifer — Son of the Morning — it has fallen, never to 
rise again. 

"For my part, gentlemen, if Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal 
Hamlin, tomorrow, were to abdicate their offices, and were to give 
me a blank sheet of paper to write the conditions of re-annexation 
to the defunct Union, I would scornfully spurn the overture. 

"They say Virginia must abide in the Union which you have 
annihilated. I pray you, gentlemen, rob them of that idea. 

"Do not distrust Virginia: As sure as tomorrow's sun will rise 
upon us, just so sure will Virginia be a member of this Southern 
Confederation. 

And I will tell you, gentlemen, what will put her in the South- 
ern Confederacy in less than an hour by Shrewsbury clock — strike 
A blow! 

"The very moment that blood is shed, old Virginia will make 
common cause with her sisters of the South. ' ' 

36 



April eleventh, Mr. Davis assembled his Cabinet to consider a plan 
for holding the South together. 

As subsequently stated by Senator Clemens, of Alabama, "they 
were engaged in a very excited discussion — General Walker, with 
Mr. Gilchrist — a member of the Alabama Legislature — and other 
prominent gentlemen." 

They were discussing the propriety of opening fire on Fort 
Sumter, to which General Walker — the Secretary of War — ap- 
peared to be opposed. 

Mr. Gilchrist said to him: "Sir, unless you sprinkle blood in 
the face of the people of Alabama, they will be back in the old Union 
in less than ten days. ' ' 

Thereupon Jefferson Davis — Provisional President of the South- 
ern Confederacy — gave the order to fire on the flag of the United 
States, to reduce the walls of a Federal fort, to sprinkle blood in 
the faces of an excited people. 

History says : ' ' The thunder of fifty guns in one grand volley, 
followed by the crashing and crumbling of brick, stone, and mortar 
around and above them, apprized the little garrison that their stay 
must be short" 

The Richmond Examiner said: "From the mountain tops and 
valleys to the shores of the sea there is one wild shout of fierce re- 
solve to capture Washington City at all and every human hazard." 

The Mobile Advertiser exclaimed: "We are prepared to fight, 
and the enemy is not. Let a hundred thousand men enter the 
North — Lincoln 's country — compel him to peace — or compel his 
successor, should Virginia suffer him to escape from his doomed 
capital. ' ' 

And so this was the answer sent back to Abraham Lincoln in re- 
sponse to his message pleading for peace and good will. 

After all this lapse of more than fifty years, can mortal man com- 
prehend the emotions tearing at the tortured heart of that immortal 
patriot when he saw the coming of the storm — when he saw officers 
educated by the Government, resigning, deserting, turning south- 
ward, that they might draw their swords, sever the life-current, and 
plunge the Nation into the vortex to be swept away like drift-wood 
before the furies of the storm. 



On the first day of November, eighteen hundred and sixty, there 
were in the United States two hundred and seventy-eight commis- 

37 



sioned officers born in the South, sent from the South, and educated 
by the Government at West Point Military Academy. 

Between that date and the opening of hostilities, one hundred 
and eighty-seven of this number left the Government and joined the 
Confederate Army, leaving ninety-one who remained true to their 
obligations and their oath. 

There were also ninety-nine additional commissioned officers born 
in the South and holding commission in the United States' service, 
who left to go with the Confederacy. 

Among the more distinguished, who thus remained, were Gen- 
erals Winfield Scott and George H. Thomas — both of Virginia; 
General Robert Anderson, of Kentucky ; General J. J. Abercrombie, 
of Tennessee, and General R. I. Dodge, of North Carolina. 

The record is referred to, not for the purpose of reopening a page 
once closed, but for reasons that must appeal to every American 
who loves to know the truth. 

Just previous to the breaking out of the Rebellion there were in 
the Government service six hundred and ten graduates from the 
Naval Academy, born in the South. 

Through conduct, termed by Mr. Lincoln as treasonable, three 
hundred and eighty of these were dismissed from service while two 
hundred and thirty remained loyal to their oath : Among the latter 
we find the name of Farragut the hero ; of Fairfax ; of Craven ; and 
Winfield Scott Schley — he of Santiago fame. 

So long as sectionalism seeks to sweep away the distinguishing 
line between loyalty and disloyalty — between patriotism and that 
spirit which never was patriotic — just so long must the pages of 
the past remain open — just so long must ''Eternal Vigilance" be 
maintained. 

This record, carefully compiled and preserved by the government, 
proves full well that patriotism arose paramount in the souls of 
some, while others, less strong, surrendered to that "Cause con- 
demned by the highest tribunals of intelligence throughout the 
world. ' ' 

Sorrowfully Mr. Lincoln examined the lists of names and then, 
without passion, he wrote these words in his message to Congress, 
July fourth, eighteen sixty-one : 

"Great honor is due to the officers who remained true, despite 
the example of their treacherous assoeiates. ' ' 

He also incorporated in that document the following paragraph : 

' ' It might seem, at first thought, to be of little difference whether 

38 



the present movement at the South he called ' Secession or rebellion. ' 
The movers, however, well understand the difference. At the be- 
ginning they knew they could never raise their treason to any re- 
spectable magnitude by any name which implies violation of law," 

In the message referred to he also dwelt at some length upon the 
fact that "to the last man, so far as known, the common soldiers 
and the common sailors resisted all efforts to force them into re- 
bellion against the Government they loved," and which they were 
under oath to defend. 

Mr. Lincoln was deeply grieved over the loss of so many of his 
ablest officers. This was especially true of one who was among the 
most brilliant, and who was among the last to leave and espouse the 
cause of the South. 

The loss of that officer — Colonel Robert E. Lee — deeply de- 
pressed and humiliated Mr. Lincoln. 

He had regarded him as a loyal and patriotic supporter of the 
Union and the flag under which he had won renown. 

The President was so well satisfied of his loyalty that he had pro- 
moted him to the rank of Colonel ; and it must be remembered that 
he again took the oath to ' ' defend the Union against all enemies and 
oppressors, whatsoever, domestic as well as foreign." 

That we may obtain a clearer view of this case, its vital bearing 
upon the subject before us, and also its intimate connection with 
the entire list of West Point graduates who violated their oaths, let 
us consider certain testimony which has now become historic — 
testimony from the pen of Lee himself, who was, January 23, 1861, 
stationed at San Antonio, Texas. 

His entire letter, written to his son — Custis Lee — at Arlington, 
Virginia, is published in a book by Henry Alexander White — a 
Southern historian. 

It is now my privilege to quote from the letter as published : 

"I have just concluded the reading of Everett's life of Washing- 
ton — enjoyed it very much. 

*'How his spirit would be grieved could he see the wreck of his 
mighty labors ! 

"I will not, however, permit myself to believe, until all the 
ground for hope is gone, that the fruits of his noble deeds will be 
destroyed, and that his precious and virtuous example will so soon 
be forgotten by his Countrymen. 

"As far as I can judge from the papers we are between a state of 
anarchy and civil war. 

' ' May God avert both these evils from us. 

39 



' ' The framers of our Constitution never would have exhausted so 
much labor, wisdom, and forbearance in its formation, and sur- 
rounded it with so many guards and securities, if it was intended to 
be broken by any member of the Confederacy at will. 

"It is intended for a perpetual Union, so expressed in the pre- 
amble, and for the establishment of a Government, not a compact, 
which can be dissolved only by revolution, or the consent of all the 
people in convention assembled, 

"It is idle to talk of secession; anarchy would otherwise have 
been established by Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and all the 
other patriots of the Revolution. ' ' 

Those lines from the pen of Robert E. Lee should be preserved in 
bronze to be read by the rising generations. 

No truer sentiments ever sprang from the lips of Washington, or 
Webster, or Jackson, or Henry Clay. 

The pen, held fast in the hand of Lee on that January day, traced 
not a word, or sentence, that would betray other than the emotions 
of a heart resolved to remain true, a soul inspired only by the loftiest 
spirit of patriotism — such patriotism as he well knew would soon 
be called upon to defend the Union, the Constitution, and the flag. 

But let us look toward another day : Let us behold a change — a 
change so startling that it almost challenges belief : 

Lieutenant-Colonel Lee was called, and he hastened to Washing- 
ton. 

At once he was taken into the confidence of Mr. Lincoln and Gen- 
eral Scott. 

He accepted promotion to the rank of Colonel, held up his hand 
and took the solemn oath. 

He was looked upon by his superior officer, and the President, as 
the best qualified for the highest command, with the rank of ' ' Gen- 
eral-in-Chief. ' ' 

Thirty days went by, when Sumter was fired upon and a new flag 
appeared in the sky. 

Then it was that rebellious voices were heard above the roar of 
battle, saying ' ' We deny the right of this Republic longer to live. 
We propose to tear it down. ' ' 

Then it was that Colonel Lee absented himself from his office. He 
avoided the President and appeared reluctant to meet his brother 
officers. 

General Scott, becoming suspicious, summoned him into his pres- 
ence. Of the interview, history says: 

40 



"General Scott asked Colonel Lee, point blank, whether he in- 
tended to resign with those officers who proposed to take part with 
their respective states, or remain in the service of the Union. 

''Colonel Lee made no reply; whereupon 'Old Chapultepec' came 
directly to the point, saying : 

" 'I suppose you will go with the rest. 

" 'If you propose to resign, it is proper that you should do so at 
once. Your present attitude is an equivocal one.' 

' ' Colonel Lee then answered in these words : ' The property be- 
longing to my children — all they possess — lies in Virginia. They 
will be ruined if they do not go with their state. 

" 'I cannot raise my hand against my children.' " 

The history further says: 

"Colonel Lee called at the office of Adjutant-General Lorenzo 
Thomas, and said: 'General Thomas, I am told you said I was a 
traitor. ' 

' ' General Thomas arose and, looking him in the eye, replied : ' I 
have said so ; do you wish to know on what authority ? ' 

" 'Yes,' said Colonel Lee. 

" 'Well, on the authority of General Scott' " 

Colonel Lee returned at once to his Arlington home. 

The following day he sent his resignation to General Scott by a 
messenger, and proceeded to Richmond where a commission to the 
rank of General in the Confederate Army awaited him. He ac- 
cepted that commission three days before his resignation was acted 
upon and accepted by the Government. 

In view of his letter, written in good faith and clear conscience to 
his son, and his subsequent acts — his promotion — his holding up 
the property of his children as of paramount importance — his pre- 
cipitate departure and immediate entrance into the Confederate 
service — in view of all this it becomes our privilege to inquire : 

"Was he a patriot ? The world will accept the verdict of his pen — 
* ' The pen mightier than the sword. ' ' 

Was he loyal? The letter to his son will forever stand as a 
barrier — a bold impeachment. 

Was he true ? In March he took a solemn oath that he would de- 
fend the Government; in April he repudiated that oath and drew 
his sword to destroy the Government. 

Property stood foremost. The love of property was greater than 
his love for the Union of States. 

April 21st — three days after Lee left Washington — Captain 

41 



U. S, Grant, then not in the service, wrote a letter to his father 
in which he said: 

"We are now in the midst of trying times when every one must 
be for, or against, his Country, and show his colors, too, by every 
act. 

''Having been educated for such an emergency at the expense 
of the Government, I feel that it has, upon me, superior claims — 
such claims as no ordinary motives of self-interest can sur- 
mount. . . 

"Whatever have been my political opinions before, I have but one 
sentiment now. That is, we have a Government, and laws, and a 
flag, and they must all be sustained. 

' ' There are but two parties now — Traitors and Patriots, and I 
w«nt, hereafter, to be ranked with the latter and, I trust, the 
stronger party. 

"I do not know but you may be placed in an awkward position, 
and a dangerous one pecuniarily, but costs cannot now be counted. 
My advice would be to leave where you are if you are not safe with 
the views you entertain. 

"I would never stultify my opinion for the sake of a litle se- 
curity. ' ' 

Which one of the two is entitled to ' ' the tribute of patriotism ' ' ? 
— he before whose eyes property loomed like a mountain, or he who 
wrote : "I would never stultify my opinion for the sake of a little 
security. We have a Government, and laws, and a flag, and they 
must all be sustained. ' ' 

The last chapters of the final history will not be closed until 
the actors from that vast theater of tragedies shall have all passed 
away. 

Will the pen of that historian hesitate? 

Will he turn back the pages and read the warning words by 
' ' The Father of his country " — he who foresaw it all — he whose 
last message must never be allowed to grow dim ? 

"In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism 
who should labor to subvert these great pillars op human 

happiness THESE FIRMEST PROPS OF THE DUTIES OF MEN AND 

CITIZENS. ' ' 

Not for the nursing of passion ; for that has long since perished 
in manly breasts; but for the preservation of a high ideal, and a 
lofty patriotism, should these truths be told : They should be told, 
not because of the past, but because of the future — not because 

42 



of a history that is closed, but that such history may never be sub- 
verted, or submerged to the detriment of everlasting truth. 



Some say: "Let the dead past bury its dead." 

He, who would close his eyes to the past, is unworthy of pointing 
the way where future generations may safely tread. 

Should the example of those who deserted — the one hundred 
and eighty-seven, or the example of those who remained true — 
the ninety-one — be held up for National emulation — held up for 
the future generations to follow ? 

And how about Farragut, and the two hundred and thirty that 
remained true? 

While the war was raging Jefferson Davis said : 

' ' We are rebels, and, if defeated, we expect to hang. ' ' 

The man who could tolerate Libby, and approve Andersonville, 
could not appreciate the kindly heart of him who spake "With 
malice toward none ; with charity for all. ' ' 

A fourth of a century later, while sojourning through the South, 
he said: "My people will yet win back by diplomacy all we lost 
by the sword. They may reconstruct the men of the South but the 
women ? Never ! ' ' 

Shall his prophecies come to pass ? 

When but nine years of age, "Hannibal, barkening to the will 
of his father, swore, upon the altar of sacrifice, eternal enmity to 
Rome." 

How well the child of "the lion's brood," when he became the 
Carthaginian chief, kept his word, the fate of unhappy Rome can 
tell. 

Teachings, adverse to the love of Lincoln and the flag, are being 
covertly and insidiously instilled into the youthful minds of mil- 
lions where sentiment plays an important part — teachings under 
the Stars and Bare. 



Shall the prophecies of Davis prove true 1 

Go, ask the babe whose listening ear notes each heart-beat within 
its mother's breast. 



Shall purity of purpose prevail ? 

Go, light the fires in Freedom's watch-towers, and make them 
burn so bright that no cloud may fall to dim the halo now gathering 
and glowing around Lincoln's tomb. 

43 



Shall loyalty to the deeds of Lincoln outshine disloyal sentiment? 

Go forth and teach a Nation-wide patriotism. 

Unfurl the flag lighted by eight and forty stars. 

Throw it to the top of the mast above every school of learning, 
every court-house, every public building, from the frozen lakes to 
the Rio Grande. 

Teach patriotism : Teach it in song and story : 

Teach it in the language of him who wrote : 

' ' What constitutes a state ? 
Not high-raised battlements and labored mound. 
Thick wall and moated gate ; 
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned ; 
Not bays and broad-armed ports 
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride; 
Not starred and spangled courts 
Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride ; 
But men — high-minded men — 
With powers, as far above dull brutes endured 
In forest, break and glen. 

As beasts excel cold rocks and bramble rude — 
Men who their duties know. 

Yet know their right and, knowing, dare maintain, 
Prevent the long-aimed blow. 

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain: 
These constitute a state. 

And sovereign law — that state 's collected will — 
O'er thrones and globes elate. 
Sits Empress crowning good, suppressing ill." 



Hope has ever looked toward Washington; and so let us hope 
that, amid the hours of social flatteries, amid the calls for reciprocal 
legislation, the true and strong will say: "Not by my vote shall 
you be permitted to destroy the distinguishing line between loyalty 
and disloyalty — between those whom Mr. Lincoln called ' the true, ' 
and those whom he characterized, 'the treacherous;' not by my 
vote shall Freedom's victory be stultified, as would be the case 
should we place upon National pedestals the leaders of that 'cause' 
which would have crushed the Nation down: Not by my vote 
shall we teach the inquiring ages to revere the swords that drew 
from Liberty 's veins her best and bravest blood. ' ' 

44 



In the last chapter of General John B. Gordon's book he says: 

"When the end came, and when General Lee realized that Ap- 
pomattox was the grave of his people's hopes, he regretted that 
Providence had not willed that his own life should end there also. 

"He not only said, in substance, to Colonel Venable of his staff, 
and to others, that he would rather die than surrender the Cause, 
but he said to me on that morning that he was sorry he had not fal- 
len in one of the last battles." This is the recorded testimony of 
Gordon. 

No such magnanimity, as that awaiting Lee at the McLean house, 
was ever before extended to ' ' crushed and conquered foe ; " no such 
generosity was ever recorded in all the world as that freely given 
by General Grant. 

But regardless of all that, Lee preferred a grave to the out- 
stretched hand of his victor. 

He preferred death rather than life with the humiliation of de- 
feat. 

No eyes could then see, and no hearts can now contemplate the 
emotions struggling within his soul that day. 

Visions of the past in all their horrid sights rose up before him: 

He saw the South laid waste, her industries destroyed, her cities 
in ruins, her fairest fields blighted by the burning breath of war. 

Upon her torn bosom, wherever he gazed, he saw vast assemblages 
of human bones. 

Tears coursed his cheeks as he thought of his once happy South 
needlessly plunged into tempests of blood — hopelessly crushed by 
the iron hoof of war — homes, that once rang with laughter, dark 
in woe — firesides, once joyous, moaning by the vacant chair — 
faces, once beaming, bowed in grief: All this he saw, and more: 
From the mountains to the sea, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, 
wherever his sad gaze fell he saw the fulfillment of the poet 's dream : 

' ' The rock-ribbed ledges drip with a horror of blood, 
And Echo there, whatever is asked her, answers death." 

Again he was at Gettysburg. 

Again he was calling unto himself : Why was it that my veterans 
failed? 

' ' They were flushed with victories from Bull Run — a hundred 
battles and more — victories all along the way. 

"Fresh from Chancellorsville, with 'triumph' written on our 
banners, we marched on Gettysburg. 

45 



* ' Why was it, gun for gun and man for man, we failed to sweep 
the staggered troops of Meade aside, encompass Washington, install 
our President in the White House, proclaiming victory to our Cause ? 

''Why did we fail? 

* ' Will the world rebuke my patriotism ? 

"None led with greater courage than did Armistead, under 
Pickett, that day; and, dying, he said: 'Tell General Hancock, 
that I know I did my country a great wrong when I took up arms 
against her for which I am sorrj^, but for which I cannot live to 
atone. ' 

"Will the words of his repentance ring down the ages? Will 
his admissions rebuke the ' Cause ' I espoused ? 

"God has denied my prayers. 

"Heavy my knees on Negroes' chains. 

"In vain my pleadings. 

' ' And here the grave of my people 's hopes ! 

"Would that Death had called me before this day." 



And so, from that mighty day, the world has asked : 

"Why did the South fail?" 

Was it because she lacked the power ? No : 

Was it because she lacked arms, ammunition, and all the death- 
laden engines of war ? No ! 

Was it because her lands were unable to produce an abundance ? 
No. 

Was it because she lacked men ? No ! 

It was because of a Power stronger than bone and sinew and flesh 
and blood — a Power mightier than the power of man — it was the 
Power of God. 

As in the days of Egypt and Rome, the registries of Heaven had 
decreed that slave-holders' deeds must be blotted out — that the 
pathway of Liberty must be made clear and that a higher humanity 
was destined to advance under the guiding hand of a living, loving, 
and eternal God. 



Throughout all the years since the great struggle a persistent 
teaching has gone on in the South telling their children that "no 
commanders could have led with such daring, and no soldiers could 
have fought with such devotion, as did theirs, unless convinced they 
were in a 'cause' that was right," and that "justice was on their 
side." 

46 



Did their leaders display a greater genius or their soldiers fight 
with more courage than did Alexander and his legions, from the 
Mediterranean to the Ganges, from Macedon to the Southern Seas, 
conquering, scourging, crushing, and even annihilating all within 
the reach of their wicked spears ? 

And did Alexander, with his warriors, believe they were wrong? 



Did these soldiers of the South fight with greater valor than did 
the Romans as they reached out in triumph, until she stood "Mis- 
tress of the world?" 

And did Rome believe that her conquests were wrong? 



And Napoleon, what shall we say of him ? What comparison can 
be made other than to crush this sentimental claim so absolutely 
absurd ? 

Napoleon ! He destroyed thrones, rearing one for himself out of 
the wrecks he wrought — out of the chaos created by his own despotic 
power. 

All Europe trembled before him. 

Nations shuddered beneath the blows of his blood-stained sword. 

A pretended patriot, himself, he swept away the civilizations of 
centuries without remorse or shame. 

Did the soldiers of Lee fight with more courage than those under 
the Corsican chief? 

And did the Corsican ever acknowledge that he was wrong? 

No ! No ! Notwithstanding all the heroisms and all the sufferings 
of the South, through her long years of travail, that argument fades 
away beneath the searchlight seeking the truths of history — fades 
away before the eyes of an intelligent, fair, and far-seeing world. 



As we draw this lesson to a close let us contemplate, for a few 
moments, the life of the one man to whom the greatest meed of 
praise is due for all the blessings we now enjoy — him whose faith 
in the cause of truth and right inspired the noblest manhood that 
ever sprang to arms in a just and righteous cause. 

It is said that "Socrates drew philosophy down from the skies 
and scattered it in the schools and institutions of learning. ' ' 

Abraham Lincoln was the greatest philosopher of modern times. 

His school was the school of Nature. Practical wisdom was his. 
His heart was a storehouse of patriotic virtue, of patriotic devotion, 
and patriotic love. 

47 



You will search history in vain to find a single selfish act, or dis- 
loyal deed, committed by him. 

As Socrates drew from the skies his philosophy, so Abraham Lin- 
coln drew from the laws of God the noblest gifts, the purest pur- 
poses, and the most profound reasoning of the age in w3iich he 
lived, and he gave them all that this Republic should not perish, that 
constitutional law should not be blotted out, and that the liberties 
of man might be lifted to a higher plane than they had ever reached 
before. 

When we reflect upon the trials and travail through which he led 
his people upward and onward into a stronger and better life, we 
can but exclaim: What lessons he laid before us: What gifts 
he bequeathed, not alone for the preservation of this Republic, but 
that her ennobling influence might be extended even into the heart 
of all nations under the guiding hand of God ! 

No greater solicitude for mankind, and no loftier or nobler senti- 
ments, than those which found birth in the tortured heart of Abra- 
ham Lincoln, have been given to the world since the days when 
the Savior walked the earth. 



And so, for a few moments, let memory clasp hands with contem- 
plation, let lessons of the past teach us how the future may be made 
the more substantial and secure. 

In the fourth century a monk said: 

' ' He, who does not obey the helm, will have to obey the' rocks. ' ' 

With equal truth we can say: Wrecks of the past must be re- 
garded as warning for the future. 

Amid the storm, when hope grew dim, when the life of the Nation 
hung trembling in the balance, a vast assemblage gathered upon the 
field where the invading hosts had reached "high-tide," only to roll 
back, even as the waves roll back and fall away from a steep and 
rugged shore. 

The leaders of the Nation, both military and civil, were there. 
Distinguished statesmen and orators were there. 

Among the words spoken, and which thrilled the great throng, 
were those by him who leads the list of the world's patriots — him 
of whom the poet has written : 

"And 'midst them Lincoln sat: immortal name, 
That fairest stands among the sons of fame. ' ' 

48 



Called upon, he rose, calm, sad, resolute, his words deliberate and 
deeply impressive: 

* ' We cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow 
this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, 
have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. 

' * The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, 
but it can never forget what they did here. 

''From those honored dead we take increased devotion to that 
cause for which they gave the last full measure of their devotion 
— that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in 
vain — that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of free- 
dom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the 
people shall not perish from the earth. ' ' 

Without malice and without prejudice, that message was the 
clarion-call of Liberty, and it will ring down the ages as long as 
hope thrills the human heart and patriot-eyes are turned towards 
the Stars and Stripes. 



We are told that, when this century shall have reached its merid- 
ian, there will be more than two hundred millions of people in the 
United States. 

We need no assurance to know that, at the present rate of immi- 
gration, and at the present rate of increase, fifty years hence there 
will have come to these shores one hundred millions more from the 
old world. 

A large portion of this conglomerate mass know nothing of our 
traditions, our laws, or the real meaning of our liberties; nor do 
they understand the cost of these blessed privileges they seek to 
enjoy. 

I yield to no man in my appreciation of what the intelligent, 
the brave and patriotic foreign-born have done for the upbuilding 
of this Republic; nor should we ever forget their devotion in her 
days of darkest peril ; and how they offered their lives upon our 
battle-fields that this Union might be preserved. 

Previous to the war of the sixties serious conflicts had shaken 
Europe from side to side. It was a people's crusade against op- 
pression and the tyranny of thrones. 

Humanity was struggling to throw off the yoke of bondage, try- 
ing to improve mankind. 

They failed: They fled the guillotine, the gallows, and the up- 

49 



lifted sword held in vengeful hands, struggling and striving to 
destroy them. 

They sought the only Nation whose password was : * ' Liberty ' ' — 
where equal rights prevailed. 

They fought under the Stars and Stripes. 

To them, let gratitude forever give her full meed of praise. 

Many of their names are written high on the scroll of enduring 
fame. 

It is not of such I speak ; but I do speak of another class ; and, 
if I possessed the power, I would post a relay of sentries at Castle 
Garden, with the Stars and Stripes above them and, as those endless 
thousands come pouring down the gang-plank, asking for admission 
here, I would require them to look up to that flag and, with their 
hands placed upon their hearts they should solemnly swear eternal 
allegiance to every principle, and obedience to every law for which 
it stands, and all — everyone — who would refuse, or fail to take 
that oath, with ordinary intelligence, should be denied an entrance 
here. 

In the enlightment of these vast armies of newcomers lies our 
Nation 's greatest hope. 

Their children should be brought in from the broad highways, 
the workshops, the thronging streets, and placed in schools. 

They should be told of Gettysburg, and how, there, Lincoln spoke, 
and how those grass-grown hillsides hold, within their embrace, 
the sacred dust of Liberty's dead. 

They should be told of the martyrs who died that this Union 
might live — that the flag of stars might remain in the sky. 

Again and again they should be told the story, until, with the 
emblem of freedom floating above them, they, with our children and 
our children's children standing beside them, freely join in these 
undying words uttered at the grave-side of war's desolation: 

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in 
vain. ' ' 

If this Republic is to endure, if it it to grow in power and in- 
fluence among the nations of the earth, all — all — of her people, 
regardless of nationality — regardless of former allegiance, or sec- 
tion of this land — all must obey the Constitution, and respect the 
flag as Washington made it, and as Lincoln preserved it, with those 
who rallied around it at his call. 



n 



Commercial and financial powers are good, doubtless imperative 
to the Nation's progress; but, be it remembered, there is no power 

50 



that can long endure without patriotism as its deepest and strongest 
comer-stone. 

Captains of industry and commanders of mighty wealth, even to 
mounting millions, are good, doubtless indispensable in this age of 
gigantic growth and great achievements; but unless these captains 
and these commanders obey the law, and respect the spirit of patriot- 
ism which made this Republic what it is and what it stands for, then 
their strength will perish and fall, or the Nation will perish and 
fall before them. 

In this free Republic loyalty in times of peace is imperative to 
the preservation of that which patriotism achieved in times of war. 

Some speak of the past as ' ' the dead past. ' ' 

I unhesitatingly say: Should the time ever come when this 
Republic, saved by martyr's blood and sanctified by mothers' tears, 
ceases to remember her dead, then the day will be at hand when the 
process of disintegration shall begin. 



Although nearly fifty years have gone by since the roar of cannon 
ceased we have, yet remaining, a large number of those who learned 
their lessons of patriotism in that school, where, as Mr. Lincoln 
said, ' ' it must be determined whether a Nation, conceived in liberty 
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, 
can long endure." 

They are graduates of that school. 

They are veterans of bloody fields. 

Of them we may consistently say: They are of the survival; 
but they, too, must bow to His will, and as they go, the great chain 
which has so long bound past and present together, is breaking, 
link by link, and, ere long, it will all have perished and faded away. 

Shall the future prove their labors vain? 

Will the great ages hearken back and heed ? 

If true patriotism is to be taught, the truths of history must be 
told. 

Some years ago the London Times in discussing the sacrifices and 
struggles of mankind to reach a higher level and better life, said : 

' ' There is an immense power in facts. 

"Wherever there is public opinion; wherever there are common 
sense and common feeling, a fact is sure to have its weight. 

* ' If there be a great and distressing body of facts with some great 
mystery, or iniquity, or error, or misfortune, connected with it, tell 
it and tell it, and tell it again. 

51 



"Tell it in a thousand forms. 

"Tell it with perpetual variety of circumstances and novelty of 
view. 

' ' Tell it of this locality ; tell it of that. 

' ' Tell it of the mass, and tell it of the individuals. 

"Before a generation is past, the fact will speak for itself and 
find a cure." 

And so, the great and heroic past appeals to you, and to those 
who are to become the teachers of the younger generations: Tell 
the truth — the whole truth, and nothing but the truth — of our 
own immortal history. 

Tell it to the thousands — tell it to the millions — coming to 
these shores. 

Tell it to the school children from ocean to ocean, from northern 
lakes adown to the sun-kissed sea. 

Tell it to the ten million lads, and the millions more, who must 
spring to arms should war's tocsin be heard again. 

Tell of the atonement, that Liberty might live — that this noble 
Union might endure. 

Hold up the star-lit flag — the herald of advancement, of en- 
lightment, of hope — the flag destined to blaze out the way and 
make clear the path up which all nations of the earth shall come in 
God's appointed time. 

Tell of the drawn sword — the determined sword — that struggled 
to strike it down. 

Tell how patriots prayed for it — 

How lovers wept for it — 

How heroes fought for it — 

How martyrs died for it — 

And how God's will kept it in the sky. 

Tell the sad story of him who led his Nation through her years 
of anguish — her long night of woe, and who, watching for a rift 
amid the clouds, spake with all the devotion of a meek and lowly 
heart : 

' ' Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty 
SCOURGE OP WAR MAY SPEEDILY PASS AWAY," and how, his prayer 
answered, his vision fulfilled, he passed beyond the purple hills into 
the full splendor of imperishable fame. 

Yes! Tell the story, that this Republic shall not "perish from 
the earth" — "that these dead shall not have died in vain," 

As in war, all eyes are turned toward the flag — as in battle, 

52 



soldiers look up to it as a thing of life, the winds that waft it, the 
breezes that swell it — the breath of the Nation ; so, where it goes, 
they go — where it leads, they follow. 

Though human voices may be drowned amid the roar of battle, 
though the elements may threaten to engulf, so long as soldiers 
see their flag, there they remain. 

And so, in peace, 

As long as all eyes are tmrned toward it — 
As long as all hearts throb for it — 
So long shall loyal hands uphold it. 
And patriot-voices proclaim its praise. 

As a closing thought I will offer this sentiment : 
The sages tell us, this Nation shall stand throughout all time: 
That may be true; yet mortal man knoweth not; for, verily, the 
wisdom of God worketh by mysterious and hidden ways. 

And if, my friends, all the illusions of ambitions realized — all 
the achievements of successful heroism — and all the accomplish- 
ments of this advanced civilization cannot secure to this Republic 
the permanency of its duration ; and if, away down the distant ages, 
this triumphant "Star of Empire" shall have passed on to the west- 
ward, and still farther westward — if even the Eternal Arbiter 
of the world's destiny shall have willed to cast about us the shadows 
of a western mediaevalism ; when this great social fabric shall have 
faded away like mists upon the horizon ; when this grand Republic 
shall have fallen from its proud pedestal upon the mighty structure 
of Time, and the tongue of the Anglo-Saxon shall be handled only 
by the lips of strangers ; then — then — at last, shall the genera- 
tions, looking this way, view this great Nation as the supreme figure 
in the vortex of history — a Nation without a model, a Nation with- 
out a peer — dropped by the hand of God into the midst of this 
troubled world to promote all that is good, all that is true, and all 
that is noble in our wondrous humanity, thus presenting to all com- 
ing time the Divine principle of a free and enlightened "govern- 
ment of the people, by the people, for the people" — a Government 
whose flag, baptized in the blood of martyrs, has blazed out the 
way, bearing onward its message of "Peace and good well to 
EVERT land and every people along the path of the sun." 



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